Garment hanger



Jan. 15, 1957 H. c. COOK, SR

GARMENT HANGER Filed May 2, 1952 INVENTOR. W mvf d).

Dale, 62.6w

ATTORNEY GARP/ENT HANGER Harold C. Cook, Sn, Long Bland City, N. Y.

Application May 2, 1952, Serial No. 285,698

7 Claims. (Cl. 223-90) This invention relates to apparel apparatus and more particularly to hangers for garments, such as coats, trousers, skirts and the like.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a garment hanger which is of unique and novel construction.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel apparatus of the above character which may be safely utilized for large and heavy garments but may be collapsed into a compact, light-weight unit for storage or packing, such as in a suit case or other types of luggage for travelling.

Still another object is to provide novelly combined hanging devices for coats or jackets and trousers or skirts.

A further object is to provide a sturdy and reliable coat hanger which is novelly constructed from readily detachable parts which may be easily assembled in one manner for use and in another manner for storage or packing.

A still further object is to provide a garment hanger wherein novel structural details contribute to the overall operation, efficiency and reliability of the complete apparatus.

Still another object is to provide a device of the above character wherein a supporting hook is assembled in a novel and advantageous manner with a form block or body of a garment hanger.

The above and further objects and novel features of the invention will more fully appear from the following detail description when the same is read in connection with the accompanying drawings. it is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for purposes of illustration only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation view of one form of garment hanger embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an end view of said hanger with the removable wire shoulder supports shown in section in storage or packing position;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation view showing the hanger of Fig. 1 in collapsed or packaging assembly;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view taken substantially in the plane of line 44 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view, partly in section and with parts broken away, the view being taken substantially in the plane of line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are detail plan views showing one of the flexible wire shoulder supports in storage, at rest and installed positions, respectively;

Fig. 9 is a sectional detail view on an enlarged scale and with parts broken away, the section being taken substantially on line 9 9 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 10 is a sectional detail view on an enlarged scale, the section being taken substantially on line 101ll of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 11 is an enlarged detail view of the tip end of a Patented Jan. 15, 1957 supporting spring, the view being taken at right angles to Fig. 10.

The embodiment of the invention chosen for illustration in the accompanying drawings, by way of example, is in the form of a combined coat or jacket and trouser or skirt hanger. Convenient facilities are also provided for hanging neckties, belts or the like together with the other garments. As shown, the coat or jacket supporting portion of the hanger comprises a body member or block 15 which may be made of any suitable material but is preferably made of hard wood. The lower edge of said block is cut away in the form of an arch in the interest of light weight and for other purposes to hereinafter appear. The upper edge of block 15 is provided with a centrally disposed longitudinal groove 16 which is adapted to receive the lower end of a supporting hook 17. The latter is preferably made of stiff wire having a diameter slightly greater than the normal width of groove 16 and is looped to provide an eye for receiving a pivot pin or axis 18. Groove 16 may be laterally spread with a wedge during the installation of hook 17 so that upon removal of the wedge, the walls of groove 16, because of the resiliency of the material from which the block 15 is made, will resiliently grip the lower end of the hook and yield-ably hold it in any desired position. It will be seen that groove 16 is of suflicient extent to permit hook 17 to be pivoted into the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1 for a purpose to hereinafter appear. 7

Body or block 15 is combined in a novel manner with a pair of U-shaped wires 19, 26 for supporting a coat or the like in the usual manner by internally engaging the shoulders thereof. The supports 19 and 24) are identical and any reference herein to one of them is equally applicable to the other. Each shoulder support 19 is constituted by a bite of relatively stiff wire, the ends of which fit into pairs of laterally spaced recesses 21, 21 drilled into the ends of block 15. in one successful embodiment, hard drawn steel wire having a diameter of inch was used.

The wire is initially bent so that it will assume at rest or released position with the end portions or legs thereof converging and the tips spaced apart a distance somewhat greater than the distance between recesses 21, 21. The latter have parallel axes and extend inwardly and upwardly at an angle toward pivot 18, as viewed in Fig. 1, so that wire supports 19, 20 will slope downwardly from block 15 at a suitable angle to advantageously support a coat, jacket or the like. The recesses may be drilled with a bit having the same gauge diameter as wires 19, 2t) and are accordingly slightly over-size with respect to the wires for slidably receiving the ends thereof.

It is an important feature of the present invention that when the legs of wires 19 are squeezed together sufficiently, as shown in Fig. 8, so that the ends thereof will enter parallel recesses 21, 21, each of said legs will extend at a slight angle to its recess. This relationship is shown on an enlarged scale and somewhat exaggerated in Fig. 9. It will be seen that eight end-wise pressure in the direction of the arrow causes each end or" the wire 26 to become wedged in its recess 21. A similar wedging action occurs in the vertical direction when weight is suspended on the projecting bite of the wire. These wedging actions and the expanding spring action of the wire all contribute to maintain or anchor the ends of the wire in recesses 21, 21 while the hanger is in use and yet permit the wire shoulder supports to be readily removed by a straight outward pull.

When it is desired to convert the above described hanger into a small compact unit for packaging or packing, such as for use when travelling, the shoulder supports 19, 20 may be assembled with block 15 in the novel manner illustrated in Fig. 3 wherein the same is shown in inverted position. For this purpose, the lower edge of said block is undercut at each fa'cethereof, as

at 22, to provide bevelled or contoured downwardly facing surfaces 23 (Fig. 2). Adjacent the top of each side face of block 15 the same is provided with a bevelled groove or channel 24. The lower surfaces 25 of grooves 24 are shown as being parallel to and bevelled or contoured oppositely from the contoured surfaces 23. The oppositely facing surfaces 23 and 25 extend longitudinally, that is, in an end-to-end direction, along the sides of block 15, and laterally, that is, in a side-to-side direction, across said block. That portion of block 15 between surfaces 23 and 25 constitutes a lateral projection at each side of said block., Each of the Wire supports 19 and 20 may be expanded to storage position (Fig. 6) and the legs thereof engaged with a pair of oppositely bevelled surfaces 23, 25 as seen in Fig. 3-one support being stored on one side of block 15 and the other on the other side. The manner of placing the wire support in stored position is illustrated by dot and dash lines in Fig. l. The storing of members 19 and 20 in expanded position restores thereto the resiliency which is normally lost while the same is compressed to installed or inserted position (Fig. 8). Thus, when a wire support 19 is transferred from storage position (Fig. 3) to installed position (Fig. 1) the resiliency of the Wire will tend to spread the legs thereof and thus resiliently hold the ends against oppositely facing walls of recesses 21, 21. By the same token when said wire support is transferred from compressed or installed position to expanded or storage position, the resiliency thereof tends to hold the legs of the bite inwardly and hence in firm engagement with the longitudinally-extending lateral retaining surfaces 23, 25.

The present invention comprehends the novel comw bination of a novel trouser or skirt hanger with the above described novel coat or jacket supporting device and in the form shown, comprises a tie rod or bar 26 suitably secured to block or body 15, such as by dowels or nails 27. If desired, however, bar 26 or the pro jecting ends thereof may be formed integrally with block 15. The central portion of bar 26 may be used for hanging belts, neckties or the like, or the same may be dispensed with. The ends of bar 26 constitute extensions or projections from the ends of block 15. For a purpose to more fully appear hereinafter, the upper surfaces of extensions or projections 26, 26 have notches 28 formed therein and the lower corners 29, as seen in Fig. l, are filleted or bevelled.

to be encountered in ordinary use. The rods 32 are preferably made of hard wood and the flats 34 should preferably extend transversely to the grain of the wood. The construction of springs 35, 31 is such that the same are eifective to continually urge gripper rods 32, 32 toward each other for gripping the legs of one or more trousers, the waistbands of one or more skirts or the like inserted between the rods.

Although gripper rods 32 may be round or any other desired shape in transverse section (Fig. 11), the same are preferably generally rectangular with the adjacent lower or inside corners 35 filleted or bevelled to provide an entrance groove 36 which facilitates placing a garment between the rods against the force of springs 30, 31. By setting spring shanks 31 into rods 32 near the outer or remote edges of the rods, ample space is assured for the passage of trouser cuffs, skirt waistbands or the like therebetween. v

In order to insure maintenance of alignment or. registry of the ends of rods 32, i. e., to prevent longitudinal movement of one rod relative to the other, spring coils 30, 30 are wound in opposite directions-one clockwise and the other counterclockwise-as viewed from either end of the device. The innermost shanks 31 of the springs, i. e., the shanks nearest the center of the structure, are secured to one gripper rod 32, and the outermost shanks are secured to the other rod. This arrangement and the opposite windings of coils 30, 36 are effective to ofiset or counter the tendency of the spring coils to twist laterally with respect to the axis of bar' 26. It will be seen that bar or extensions 26 are free to, rotate in coils 30, such rotation being resisted only by the gripping action of the coils, as pointed out above. Any axial movement of the coils along bar 26 as a result of the threading or screw action thereof on the bar during rotation is prevented by notches or slots 28.

For the purpose of insuring a good gripping action of the rods 32 on a garment, the central portions of the adjacent faces of said rods may be cut away as shown at 37 (Fig. 4). A space is thus provided between the bars for accommodating any excess thickness at the center, such as may result from the seams of the legs of a pair of trousers and insures a good grip at each end portion Suspended from the ends of bar or extensions 26 by means of springs 30, 31 are a pair of gripper rods 32, 32. Each of said springs may be made of a good quality spring wire and comprises two long shanks 31 joined by a coil 30. The diameter of said coil is preferably large enough that when the same is relaxed, i. e., not under tension, it may be readily slipped over the bevelled end of a projection 26 into slot 28 and when placed under tension, as in the final assembly, it will firmly grip the notched portion of said extension to yieldably resist rotation of the latter in the coil.

Before installing the gripper rods 32, 33 on the spring shanks 31, the latter are crossed as at 33 (Fig. 2) to tension coils 30, said shanks being bent at points well above rods 32 to provideample space therebetween for the cuffs of trousers, the waistbands of skirts and the like. In the assembly process, the ends of shanks 31 are now passed through drilled holes in rods 32, said holes being only sufiiciently larger than said shanks to permit easy passage of the latter therethrough. The projecting end of each shank 31 is then flattened as at 34 in the dotted line position of Fig. 11. Thereafter, the rods 32, 32 are forced down over the flats 34 to a position as illustrated by full lines in Fig. 11. When the parts are thus assembled the material of rod 32 appears to close in around the deformed end of the spring shank sothat the rod is firmly anchored against movement along the shank in either direction by any force apt of the rods for supporting the garment. When there is no excess thickness at the center, the cut away portions 37 are not necessary.

When the above described hanger is not in use, as when it is to be packed in a travelling bag or the like, the wire shoulder supports may be removed from recesses 21, 21 and stored in grooves 22, 24 in the manner illustrated in Fig. 3. One desirable manner of inserting a wire shoulder support in a pair of grooves 22, 24 is by expanding the ends to engage the grooves and thereafter sliding the same longitudinally, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1. The hook 17 may be pivoted to its inoperative position relative to block 15, and the body or block 15, 26, together with parts mounted thereon, may then be rotated in coils 30, 30 through an angle of to the storage position shown in Fig. 3. If desired, the hook 17 or the bite of one of the Wires 19 and 20 may be so proportioned as to slightly engage the spring shanks 31 during the above described rotation of the coat hanger unit. The engaging element may then be snapped past one of the shanks 31 by a slight exertion of force, and the rotating unit will thereafter be prevented from accidental rotation out of stored position. This collapsed assembly of the garment hanger comprehended by this invention provides a compact light-Weight unit which may be easily packed and yet readily converted into a full-size sturdy hanger of great utility.

Although only a single embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing and described in the foregoing specification, it is to be expressly understood that the invention is not limited thereto. It will be clear, for example, that. the coat and trouser hanger portions of the illustrated novel combination maybe used separately, a suitable hook being provided on bar 26 when the trouser or skirt hanger is used separately. Although the rods 32 and body parts 15, 26 are preferably made of hard wood, any one or all of them may be made of other suitable materials, such as plastic or metal. The illustrated shape of rods 32 in transverse section has important advantages, but other shapes may be used. Various other changes, particularly in the specific design and arrangement of parts illustrated, may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as will now be apparent to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:

l. A garment hanger comprising a one-piece body member, a pair of recesses in the end of said member, and a stifi resilient wire bent to U-shape and having its ends extending into said pair of recesses with the bend thereof under bias tending to separate saidends, said wire forming a shoulder support for a coat or like garment, said recesses having diameters very slightly in excess of the diameter of said wire and the longitudinal axis of each leg of the bent wire shoulder support making a small angle with the axis of the recess into which said leg extends, whereby the wire is secured in the recess by a wedging action.

2. A garment hanger asdefined in claim 1 wherein the legs of the bent wire shoulder support converge toward the ends thereof and the axes of said recesses are parallel.

3. A garment hanger comprising a one-piece body member, a pair of recesses in the end of said member, and a stiff resilient wire bent to U-shape and having its ends extending into said pair of recesses with the bend thereof under bias tending to separate said ends, said wire forming a shoulder support for a coat or like garment and said recesses having diameters very slightly in excess of the diameter of said wire, said body member having oppositely-facing, longitudinally-extending, lateral surfaces at the side thereof adapted for supporting said bent wire shoulder support, which surfaces converge inwardly toward the body member to resist movement member, and bent resilient wire shoulder supports, the

ends of which removably extend into spaced recesses in 1 the ends of said body member whereby said supports are removably mountable in the ends of said member to project therefrom in opposite directions to form shoulder supports and said body member having lateral projections from the side faces thereof adapted to be resiliently gripped by said bent wire supports whereby the latter are removably mountable on the side faces of said memher to form a compact unit for packing.

6. A garment hanger as defined in claim 5 wherein said projections are formed between grooves in said side faces and the legs of said bent wire supports are resiliently engageable with the walls of said grooves when mounted for packing.

7. A garment hanger as defined in claim 5 wherein each of said bent wire supports has a normal unbiased condition from which the legs thereof must be moved closer together into biased condition for mounting the same in the recesses in the end of said body member and moved further apart into biased condition for mounting on said lateral projections for packing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES-PATENTS 401,943 Gowen Apr. 23, 1889 756,588 Coney et a1 Apr. 15, 1904 862,706 Brenizer Aug. 6, 1907 976,094 Nichols Nov. 15, 1910 1,108,848 Okubo Aug. 25, 1914 1,248,577 Vincent Dec. 4, 1917 2,014,061 Anderson Sept. 10, 1935 2,558,910 Peacock July 3, 1951 2,656,954 Cook Oct. 27, 1953 

